Machine for buffing articles of leather.



No. 699,248. Patented May 6, I902.-

J. R. SCOTT.

MACHINE FOR BUFFING ARTICLES 0F LEATHER.

(Application filed July 24, 1901.)

(No Model.)

x $11 I \\\\\vv/// /#//////////////1 I [Hafiz-for i UNIT D STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JACOB R. SCOTT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOEMACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEWV JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

MACHINE FOR BUFFING ARTICLES OF LEATHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 699,248, dated May 6,1902. Original application filed January 14, 1901, Serial No. 43,193.Divided and this application filed July 24, 1901. Serial No.

69,572. (Nomodel-l To ctZZ whmn it may concern! Be it known that I, JA001; R.Soorr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, inthe county of Sulfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Machines for Buffing Articles of Leather;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable Io others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to machines for buffing articles ofleather, and more particularly to an improved form of buffing-roll [5for use in such machines.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved form ofbuffing-roll suitable for use in buffing-machines, such as machines forbuffing the soles and heels of boots and shoes or for buffing the roughand unfinished surfaces of boot and shoe counters or stiffeners andsimilar articles.

With these objects in View my invention consists in the devices andcombinations of 2 5 devices hereinafter described and claimed,

the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art fromthe following description.

The novel features of my improved buffingroll relate to the means foryieldingly sup-C porting the covering of abrasive material to allow itto conform to the surface ofthe article brought intoioontact therewith,to the form of the covering, to the means for securing the covering tothe roll, and to the construction of the roll. connection that except aslimited by the language of the claims I do not consider my invention aslimited to a roll provided with all 40 the features of novelty abovereferred to; but it may be embodied "in a roll provided with one or moreof such features. I also desire to state that the several features ofnovelty may be embodied in many different forms and that my invention isnot limited to the particular form illustrated in the drawingsaccompanying this application. The construction illustrated in thedrawings, however, embodies my invention in the best form at presed insection.

I desire to state in this entknown to me when all of the features areembodied in'a single roll.

Referring to the drawings, Figure lis a view showing a preferred form ofmy improved buffing-roll in longitudinal section, the driving-shafttherefor in elevation, and the bearings of the machine in which the rollis mount- Fig. 2 is a viewin side elevation'of a modified form ofbuffing-roll, and Fig. 3 is an isometric view of the tubular abrasivecovering. 6o

In Fig. l, 1 represents a buffing-roll composed of flexible material,such as rubber, and provided with a rigid metalliccore 2, which extendsnearly to the end of the roll. The covering 3, of abrasive material, is'shown separately at Fig.6 and consists of a sheet bent into tubularform, with its edges overlapped and permanently secured together byadhesive. In order to avoid a ridge at the overlapped edge, the edgesare beveled 0E, as shown. This tube of abrasive material is slipped overthe roll 1 and held thereon by bulging the roll to grip the innersurface. of the tube. The roll is preferably bulged at itsends,'wherebyits surface is made concave longitudinally of the roll, andthe covering of abrasive material bridges the concave surface, as shown.The abrasive coveringis thus yieldingly supported and can conform to thecurved'or irregular surface of the sole of a shoe, an unfinishedcounter, or similar artiole brought into contact therewith. By bridgingthe concave surface of the roll the covering of abrasive materialconfines a body of air between itself and the roll, which forms apneumatic cushion for the covering.

In leather-buffing machines as ordinarily constructed the roll has beencylindrical in form and the abrasive covering has been-applied theretoby stretching a sheet of abra- 9o sive material around the roll andturning the meeting edges inward and clampingthem within the roll. Bythis construction the surface of the roll is unyielding and can onlytouch the curved or irregular surface of an article brought into contacttherewith at a single point. For this reason the bufiing of the sole ofa shoe or the curved or irregular surface of an article of leather isrendered slow, and satisfactory results are difiicult to produce.Moreover, the point at which the edges of the abrasive covering areturned inward forms a depression with a ridge at each side, so that theabrasive material is rapidly worn away at this point and the coveringdestroyed. By my improved buffing-roll these defects are obviated, thecovering of abrasive material being mounted to yield to conform to thecurved or irregular surface of the article held in contact therewith,whereby the entire surface of the article is rapidly and satisfactorilybu ffed,and the tubular abrasive covering presenting no ridges ordepressions to cause one portion of the covering to be worn away fasterthan another.

I am aware that it has been proposed to support the abrasive covering ofa bufiingroll by means of a pad of yielding material; but such rolls aredefective in operation,since while the abrasive material is allowed toyield somewhat to conform to the surface of the article the pressure isnot uniform over the surface of the article in contact with the roll.Moreover, the extent to which the abrasive covering is allowed to yieldis comparatively small. By providing a pneumatic cushion the abrasivecovering is allowed to yield sufficiently to conform to the irregularsurface of the article and exerts a uniform pressure upon all points ofthe surface in contact with the roll.

The tubular coverings 3 can be made of the desired lengtlnor thesecoverings can be made in the form of long tubes and the desired lengthfor a roll 'cut off when required for use. The tubular coverings aremade the exact diameter to fit the roll for which they are intended andcan be packed in small compass for shipment or storing by being pressedfiat. To allow the-tubular covering to be more readily slipped over theroll, the roll and its rigid core are preferably made in two sections,as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the coveringcan be slipped over one sectionand the other section inserted into the open end of the tube.

The means for bulging the roll at its ends to grip the tubular coveringconsists of clamping-disks 4 at each end of the roll, which are arrangedto bear against the ends of the roll and bulge it into the form shown inFig. 1. The roll may be cylindrical in form, or the surface may beconcave longitudinally thereof before the roll is bulged. The flexiblematerial of the roll is preferably rubber and in order to prevent theroll bulging except at the ends is fixedly secured to the core 2,preferably by being molded thereon. Also the core 2, upon which therubber is molded, is preferably provided with a shoulder5. Theclamping-disks 4 may be provided with overhanging flanges 6, betweenwhich and the roll the covering 3 is gripped, or these flanges may beomitted and the bulging of the roll alone depended upon for holding thecovering in position.

InFig. 2 I have shown a slightly-modified form of roll in which therigid core consists of a cylindrical sleeve'7, and the means for bulgingthe roll consist of bevel-faced disks 8, which do not extend beyond theperiphery of the roll. It will be understood that other means may beemployed for clamping the covering to the roll.

The constructiontvlrich I prefer to use for actuating the clamping-disksto bulge the roll is illustrated in Fig. 1, in which it will be seenthat the clamping-disks 4 are carried by rotatable sleeves 9 and 10,mounted in hearings in the upper portion of a machineframe 11. Throughthese sleeves and through the buffing-roll extends a driving-shaft 12,having a splined connection with the sleeves and with the core of theroll, so that the sleeves and roll rotate with the shaft. At one end theshaft 12 is provided with a driving-pulley 13, the hub of which bearsagainst the end of the sleeve 9, and at the other end the shaft 12 isprovided with a nut 14, screwed thereon, which bears against the end ofthe sleeve 10 and serves as a means for forcing the sleeve 10 endwise ofthe shaft. By this construction it will be seen that the thrust of thenut 14 is taken by the hub of the pulley 13 and that by screwing up thenut the roll will be compressed between the clamp ing-disks 4. Byunscrewing the nut 14 the shaft 12 can be removed, leaving the sleeves 9and 10 in position in their bearings and allowing the bufling-roll to beremoved. By arranging the sleeves 9 and 10 to remain in their bearingswhen the shaft 12 is removed the accumulation of dust or dirt or otherfor eign substances in the bearing is prevented.

The roll above described is especially designed for use in the machinefor bufiing the rough and irregular surfaces of unfinished boot or shoecounters or stitfeners disclosed in my pending application, Serial No.43,193, filed January 14, 1901, of which this application is a division.It will be understood, however, that the roll above described is capableof use in machines for bulfing the bottoms and heels of shoes and inmany other forms of leather-bufiing machines.

Having thus indicated the nature and scope of my invention and havingspecifically described the preferred embodiment thereof, I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. A machine for buffingarticles of leather, having, in combination, a flexible roll, a tubularcovering of abrasive material, and means for bulging the ends of theroll to grip the tubular covering, substantially as described.

2. A machine forbuffing articles of leather, having, in combination, aroll provided with a surface concave longitudinally of the roll and acovering of abrasive material supported thereon and bridging the concavesurface, substantially as described.

3. A machine for buifing articles of leather, having, in combination, aroll consisting of a plurality of sections and provided with a surfaceconcave longitudinally of the roll, and a having, in combination, aflexible roll, a tubular covering of abrasive material, rotatablesleeves mounted in bearings at each end of the roll, clamping-diskscarried by said sleeves arranged to bear againstthe ends of the roll tobulge the roll to gripthe tubular covering, and a shaft passing throughthe sleeves and roll, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

. JACOB R. SCOTT. Witnesses: r

ALFRED H. HILDRETH,

FRED O. FIsH.

